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From the Tone River Map of Mount Dainichi in the Edo Period
A hidden history
Edo period to Taisho period
The year was 1600, the 5th year of the Keicho era, during the Battle of Sekigahara. A lone ascetic sensed spiritual energy on a mountain overlooking the Tone River and left some tin there.
Dainichiyama was founded by a monk who called himself Fugen, and this marked the history of the temple. According to records from the Edo period, the three mountains of Kanzaki are Hisagoyama, the mountain of the guardian deity, Atagoyama, the mountain of Atago Gongen, and this mountain, Dainichiyama, the mountain of Dainichi Nyorai, which show that Kanzaki was a place that treasured gods and Buddhas. Until the end of the Edo period, this mountain, Dainichiyama, was a pure temple of the Tendai sect, and the mountain overlooking the Tone River was called "Miyama Toshoin" and attracted the faith of many people.
However, due to the Meiji government's Shinbutsu Bunri Edict and the Abolition of Shugendo, the temple was forced to close and the temple buildings, statues and books were destroyed. Some stone Buddhas and stone pagodas were buried underground and have survived to the present day, but almost all records were lost.
After that, for about 100 years, the flame of the law was protected by a small group of devout people from the neighboring towns and villages in a hermitage on the mountaintop. The memorial book from this period has been preserved as a record of the people's devotion.
Restoration of Dainichiyama
Currently, the only things that recall the prosperity of the Edo period are the dozens of stone Buddha statues dotted around the mountainside at the summit, which are inscribed with the Edo period era names "Kansei" and "Ansei," as well as the gravestones and stone monuments of monks and ascetics.
World War II left many scars in the land of Kanzaki, and at the end of the war, a lone ascetic appeared on the 21st of every month, a festival day, carrying a statue of Kobo Daishi on his backpack, traveling over 10 kilometers from Naganuma Village. This ascetic of the Daigo school of Shingon Buddhism brought the faith of Kobo Daishi to Mount Dainichi, and the teachings of the Tozan school of asceticism to Mount Dainichi, and wind began to blow again on Mount Dainichi.
As this ascetic grew old and it became difficult for him to perform the ennichi ceremonies, devout followers of Tosho-in Temple (the predecessor of Kanzaki-dera Temple) visited Honagawa-ji Temple in Tokyo, a special head temple of the Daigo-ha school of Shingon Buddhism, and asked the great priest Junkai to send them a monk.
Then, in 1951, an opportunity arose to send a Shingon Daigoha monk, Shuho Daisozu, to the area, who established the teachings of the Shingon Daigoha sect, particularly the teachings of Shugendo (mountain asceticism), and thus revived the teachings of Buddhism.
In August of the same year, he performed the strict fire-walking training at the Kanzaki Ferry Terminal on the Tone River. He then performed goma ceremonies in a small hermitage at Kanzaki Miyama, gradually becoming the center of faith for many people.
Its magical powers spread to the villages, and on festivals and events, even though people cannot enter the small hall, lines stretch all the way to the bottom of the mountain, and it has become a mountain that many believers visit, even if they just want to pray to the embers of the goma fire.
The rise of Kanzaki Temple
Renovation of the temple at the end of the Showa period
After the death of the great priest Shuho,
His successor, Zenzai Daisojo, flourished.
I strongly embrace the fortunes of the temple,
He gained the devout faith of many believers,
In 1978, the construction of the mountain
Maintenance has begun.
The main hall was completed in 1980 .
In 1982, the Dainichi Hall was completed.
The Keiin-do Hall was built in 1987.
Kankiten Temple was built in 1992.
The temple was built and the temple complex
It has been rebuilt.
Many events are held in the main hall
was held, and many
The temple has become a place where believers eagerly visit each month for the festival events.
Of particular note is the construction of the Keiin Sammaya Hall, which enshrines the Seven Keiin Buddhas of the Tozan Shugendo sect. Keiindo is a training hall for esoteric Buddhism, where both lay and ordained practitioners can practice. Eleven Buddhas are enshrined within the hall. Many Shingon Esoteric Buddhist monks and Tozan Shugendo sect practitioners have practiced here and have produced many religious figures. The central statue of Keiindo, the Fuji Vairocana (four-armed), is the first to be erected as a Buddhist statue. The Buddhist sculptor Hattori Shunkei, who made the utmost effort to carve it, carved it using the "do carving" technique, spending 42 days inside the hall. It was covered by the media as the first success in 150 years since the Edo period, and was introduced on TV, in newspapers, magazines, etc. as the "ultimate Buddhist statue."
In addition, the memorial service for the completion of the Keiin Hall was a grand one, with the Saisho Keiin Sammaya memorial service, which is traditional to the Daigo-ha Shingon sect, performed by ascetic monks of the Daigo-ha who had gathered from all over Japan. This was the first time that the statues of the Keiin Mandala had been enshrined in a place other than Daigo-ji Temple in Kyoto, and that the Keiin memorial service, which is traditional to the Daigo-ji Temple, the head temple of the Daigo-ji Temple of the Shingon sect, had been solemnly held.
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What is the temple for?
Have you ever passed through the gate of a temple with a reverent feeling?
Have you ever consulted a temple priest about your troubles? Do you think temples are high-brow and difficult to approach? Do you think that a posthumous name has a price? Do you think that monks are rich? Are temples necessary in this world?
A temple is not a monk's house. It is a sacred place where people can place their faith and where the power of gods and Buddhas gather. It is a place that embodies the faith of those who care for the temple.
Since ancient times, temples have been involved with people's "worries," "sufferings," and "wishes" in this world.
When a person is born, people pray for the blessing of a child, when a child is blessed by chance, people pray for a safe birth, when a new life is given a Buddhist name by the temple, when a child cries at night, people pray to keep insects away, when a child cries, people pray for a healthy body, personal safety and academic success for the child's safe growth, when a child reaches the right age, people pray for a good marriage, when a child starts a family, people pray for the safety of the household, when saying goodbye to this world, people pray for the Buddha's guidance as well as the bestowal of precepts, and above all, when life is difficult, people ask for advice and confide their suffering. Temples have truly been involved in all aspects of life.
Is the temple a central presence in your life right now?
Consult a Buddhist monk
If the only temples in your area are ones that won't listen to your troubles, please come to Kanzaki Temple. Kanzaki Temple will always be your place of comfort.
Kanzakiji Temple has been a place of spiritual refuge for people, listening to their worries and wishes, burning goma and praying to Acala. This attitude has not changed to this day.
It is a place where anyone can have faith and seek salvation during difficult times in life, and monks risk their lives to pray for salvation for those in distress.
That is why Fudo Myo-o can hear our prayers. There is no temple without prayer. We strive every day to uphold this attitude and to carry out all the things that temples have done since ancient times.
The temple is located in Chiba Prefecture, just three stations from Narita and five minutes by car from the Kanzaki Interchange on the Ken-o Expressway, making it a rather inconvenient place to visit, but it is a temple that is worshipped by people not only from Chiba, but also from Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Ibaraki and other areas not far from the temple.
What kind of temple is Kanzaki-dera?
As long as we live, things will never go as we want them to.
Sometimes people may become mentally ill, lose the will to live, feel helpless, or have worries that they cannot tell anyone about. At times like these, we want our temple to be a place people can rely on. And we want people to overcome difficult times and return to life with a smile and energy. Temples exist to help people live better lives in this world through their teachings.
Please make connections while you are alive.
The era in which you live is not the Edo period. The era in which you live is one in which you can choose your temple. When you are in pain, when you don't understand something, when you are anxious, when you need a place to talk, please come to the temple.
Many different people come to Kozakidera Temple. Some have come to pray on the 21st of every month for decades without fail, some come to ask for fortune-telling when they are unsure of what to do, some make prayers, some offer memorial services, some come to ask for funeral advice, some come with worries, some just come to talk, some spend their time helping out with cleaning, some are students who come to practice, and some are serious Buddhists as monks or ascetics. Although the form is different, they are all people who seek faith and a connection with Buddhism. They all must have mustered up a little courage at first, and perhaps felt a little anxious, when they made that connection. There is no need to be so rigid about it. Just go to the temple and see for yourself.
Kanzakidera wants to be a true temple.
Current Kanzaki Temple
Following the sudden passing of the previous chief priest , Zenzai Daisojo, and a four-year hiatus from the temple, Sojo Shinkatsu has taken up residence at the dilapidated Kanzaki-dera temple. He is now working to make the temple a place that conveys Esoteric Shingon Buddhism and the teachings of the Shingon Daigoha sect, rather than a meaningless tradition, a real temple, where people can ask for advice, hold real prayers, hold proper funerals, and convey the wonderfulness of having faith. As a priest who is sometimes strict, sometimes friendly, and sometimes unconventional, he is doing his best to move the temple forward.
We want to be a temple that is needed by those who need it, so please come and visit us.
This is a temple where many people are smiling.
